Dog undergoes emergency surgery after eating video game

Dog undergoes emergency surgery after eating video game

Rocco’s owners believed he had eaten a corn on the cob.

Undated handout photo issued by PDSA of Rocco the Staffordshire Bull Terrier from Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire after he had to have emergency surgery after eating a Nintendo DS cartridge. Photo: PDSA/PA Wire

A pet dog had to have lifesaving emergency surgery after devouring a video game.

Rocco the Staffordshire Bull Terrier was taken to vet charity PDSA’s Glasgow Shamrock Street Pet Hospital after he began vomiting and refusing to eat.

Vets took an X-ray of the four-year-old dog and discovered a rectangular-shaped object in his small intestine.

It turned out to be a Nintendo DS cartridge.

Rocco’s X-ray showing the Nintendo DS game he had swallowed (PDSA/PA)

Owner Sean Johnston, 27, said: “He wasn’t acting himself at all and we were worried he’d eaten a corn on the cob, but we were so shocked when the vet said it was from a video game.

“We don’t own a Nintendo or anything like that so we’re baffled as to where he got it from.

“He’s a rescue dog and we’ve only had him for about six months so the only thing we can think is that it was from his previous owners – who knows how long it’s been in there.

“Even though we haven’t had him that long, he’s already such a big part of the family, so we’re delighted to have him back home.

“He’s made a brilliant recovery.”

Left untreated, the cartridge could have caused a fatal blockage.

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The surgeon was able to carry out the operation that same day and the dog, from Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, was discharged after an overnight stay for rest and recovery.

PDSA senior vet Susan Hermit said: “We see dogs that eat strange things all the time but none of us had ever seen anything like this.

“Objects can sometimes sit in the stomach for a while, but they cause problems when they try and push through the guts, which are much narrower.

“It was a good job Sean brought Rocco in when he did, as an object of this size trying to pass through the guts could have caused a deadly blockage or pierced his internal organs.”